Panos Kelamis

Panos Kelamis

Membership	Life Membership
BSc	Physics
MSc	Geophysics
PhD	Geophysics
BSc university	University of Athens
MSc university	Imperial College of the University of London
PhD university	University of Alberta

Panos Kelamis obtained a BSc (Hon.) in Physics from the University of Athens, Greece (1977), a MS and D.I.C. in Geophysics from the Imperial College of the University of London (1978), and a PhD in Geophysics from the University of Alberta (1982). He worked with the Research & Development group of Western Geophysical in Houston, and for Dome Petroleum in Calgary, before joining Saudi Aramco in Dhahran. Within Saudi Aramco, Panos held various technical and supervisory positions in Geophysical Research, Processing, and Technical Services Divisions. His research efforts were focused primarily on imaging, signal processing, and reservoir geophysics. He was instrumental in the application and development of advanced multiple elimination techniques on land data. Currently, he is the Chief Geophysicist of Geophysical Technical Services of the Exploration Technical Services Department in Saudi Aramco.

Panos is an active member of SEG, EAGE, and DGS. He has served the SEG in various capacities including, representative of the Africa & Middle East region and organizer and co-chair of several technical workshops and meetings (1995 First Balkan Geophysical Conference in Athens, Greece; 1996 First Winter Symposium of EAGE on Reservoir Geophysics in Venice, Italy; 2001 SEG workshop on Velocity-Independent Imaging for Complex Structures, in San Antonio, TX; 2003 SEG/EAGE summer workshop on Processing and Imaging of seismic data using explicit or implicit velocity model information in Trieste, Italy; 2004 EAGE research workshop on Seismic Acquisition Technology in Rhodes, Greece; and 2005 SEG Land Seismic Forum in Bahrain).

He served five years as an Associate Editor of Geophysics, and he is currently serving in the editorial boards of the Journal of Seismic Exploration and the Journal of Geophysics & Engineering. Panos is also on the advisory board of the industry-sponsored DELPHI consortium at Delft University of Technology in The Netherlands. He has received the Best Paper Award for a paper presented at the CSEG in 1982 and Honorable Mention for papers presented at the SEG meetings in 1990, 1995, and 1999.

SEG 75th Anniversary Distinguished Lecturer 2005

A pragmatic view of land multiple attenuation technology

The identification and subsequent suppression of multiple energy are among the most challenging issues in seismic data processing. Recent advances in the arena of multiple elimination technology, firmly rooted to the acoustic wave equation, have resulted in algorithms that are successfully applied to marine datasets. On land, and especially in the desert terrains of the Arabian Peninsula, the application of multiple elimination technology is not always straightforward and requires innovative thinking and approaches. The presence of a complex near-surface in contrast to the simple free-surface of a marine environment and the low signal-to-noise ratio, combined with coupling and acquisition problems, are key characteristics of land seismic which deteriorate the performance of multiple elimination techniques.

This talk presents a series of practical strategies that target the attenuation of surface and internal multiples in the land environment. These strategies can be applied prestack, in shot and common mid-point gathers, and/or in stacked data. They include conventional statistical and frequency-wavenumber schemes, least-squares and high-resolution model-based algorithms, and data-driven, wave-theoretical approaches which require no knowledge of the subsurface. These techniques reflect the evolution of multiple elimination methods over the last 25 years. The physical principles of each methodology are discussed in detail but special emphasis is given to viable solutions that add value to the seismic data. A plethora of land datasets from the world's largest onshore oil fields in Saudi Arabia is used to demonstrate the effectiveness as well as the limitations of each strategy. It is expected that these practical strategies will serve as a foundation for future developments in multiple attenuation technology onshore.

Biography Citation for SEG Life Membership

Contributed by A.J. (Guus) Berkhout

Dr. Kelamis, Panos to his friends, is a native Athenian. He received his undergraduate degree in physics from The University of Athens. He decided to suspend study in nuclear physics (his original plan was to work for NASA) and go for a master’s degree in geophysics from Imperial College. That turned out to be a very good decision. An offer from Ernie Kanasewich brought him to The University of Alberta. Panos, with his new bride Rea, arrived in Edmonton, and, in less than three years received his PhD on the subject of generalized ray theory and attenuation. He admits that he did not solve the 3D case—nevertheless, he received the CSEG Best Paper Award in 1981.

His industrial career started with Western Geophysical in Houston, followed by two years at Dome Petroleum in Calgary. At that time with industry hesitantly looking at depth imaging, he pioneered development of one of the first poststack depth-migration algorithms.

In 1985, Panos joined the R&D department of Saudi Aramco in Dhahran. He was assigned to follow up on the research of the Delphi Consortium at Delft University of Technology. Immediately, he saw the potential of the newly developed, surface-related multiple elimination (SRME) method for land data, then only considered applicable for the marine case. From that time on, he has pushed the application to land data and—under his stimulating guidance—the collaboration between Delft and Aramco turned out to be very successful. His 2000 Geophysics paper with Eric Verschuur was the first publication of SRME technology on land data. The next step was internal multiples, a major issue in Middle East land data, and there he also paved the road to early success. These efforts led to his SEG 75th Anniversary Distinguished Lecture tour in 2005, where he shared his experience and insights in land multiple elimination at more than 30 locations.

Kelamis’ research includes important contributions such as early implementations of poststack depth migration, DMO, and hyperbolic velocity filtering. In 1990 he received Honorable Mention for his SEG presentation on innovative implementation of parabolic Radon multiple removal (he’s nicknamed “Dr. Radon” within Saudi Aramco). Recently, Panos was instrumental in providing an alternative solution to another major challenge in land data, the complex near surface. His CFP-based redatuming technology provides major improvements over the conventional “statics” approach. In 1999, his SEG redatuming presentation was also awarded honorable mention.

Within Saudi Aramco, Panos has held several technical and managerial positions, including chief geophysicist. Presently, he is the chief technologist responsible for geophysical research in Saudi Aramco’s EXPEC Advanced Research Center. Despite these demanding positions, Panos has dedicated much time to SEG. Insiders know these activities would not be possible without his charming wife and her complete support during all these years.

I conclude by highlighting another side of Dr. Kelamis. His enthusiasm for new ideas and his continuous motivation to apply new concepts make him a unique personality in our community. Furthermore, he is a master at bringing people together at the right time in the right place. Wherever Panos is around, you know he is there, and you know something is happening. Our Society needs entrepreneurs like Panos to increase appreciation for our profession and to stimulate the younger generation. Native Athenian Panos Kelamis spreads out warmth and appreciation to people close to his heart, and he knows how to combine the excitement in his professional life with the many other good things in life, including Burgundy wines and Cuban cigars!

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